Alcohol

Chemical Addiction

If, when you honestly want to, you find you cannot quit drinking or using entirely, or if you have little control over the amount you consume, you are probably an alcoholic and/or an addict. If that is the case, you may be suffering from a problem which only a spiritual solution will conquer.

If you are as seriously alcoholic or addicted as we were, we believe there is no middle-of-the-road solution. We were in a position where life was becoming impossible, and we had passed into the region from which there was no return through human resources. We had but two alternatives. One was to go on to the bitter end, blotting out the consciousness of our intolerable situation as best we could. The other was to accept Jesus Christ as our Higher Power.

Romans 7:15-25 “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. So I find this law at work: when I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.” (NIV)

There IS a Solution
By working through the Eight Recovery Principles found in the Beatitudes with Jesus Christ as your Higher Power, you can and will change! You will begin to experience the true peace and serenity you have been seeking, and you will no longer have to rely on your dysfunctional, compulsive, and addictive behaviors as a temporary “fix” for your pain.

By applying the biblical principles of conviction, conversion, surrender, confession, restitution, prayer, quiet time, witnessing, and helping one another, which are found within the Eight Principles and the Christ-centered 12 Steps, you will restore and develop stronger relationships with others and with God.

CHECKLIST FOR SYMPTOMS OF CHEMICAL DEPENDENCY
_____ 1. Have you ever decided to stop drinking and/or using for a week or so, but only lasted for a couple of days?

_____ 2. Do you wish people would mind their own business about your drinking and/or using—stop telling you what to do?

_____ 3. Have you ever switched from one kind of drink or drug to another in the hope that this would keep you from losing control?

_____ 4. Have you had to have an “eye-opener” upon awakening during the past year? Do you need a drink or drug to get started, or stop shaking?

_____ 5. Do you envy people who can drink or use drugs without getting into trouble?

_____ 6. Have you had problem connected with drinking or using during the past year?

_____ 7. Has your drinking or using caused trouble at home?

_____ 8. Do you ever try to get “extra” drinks or drugs at a party because you did not get enough?

_____ 9. Do you tell yourself you can stop drinking or using any time you want to, even though you keep getting inebriated when you don’t want to?

_____10. Have you missed days of work or school because of drinking or using?

_____11. Do you have “blackouts”?

_____12. Have you ever felt that your life would be better if you did not drink or use?

What is your score?
Did you answer YES two (2) or more times? Is so, you are probably in trouble with alcohol or drugs. But again, only you can decide whether you think Celebrate Recovery is for you. Try to keep an open mind on the subject. If the answer is YES, we will be glad to show you how we stopped drinking and using drugs ourselves.

Celebrate Recovery does not promise to solve your life’s problems. But we can show you how we are learning to live without drinking or using one day at a time with the help of our Higher Power, Jesus Christ. We stay away from that first drink. If there is no first one, there cannot be a tenth one. And when we are free of alcohol, we find that life becomes much more manageable, with Christ’s power.

QUESTIONS
If you are wondering whether there is a drinking problem in your family, check it out by answering the following questions:

_____ 1. Do you lose sleep because of someone’s drinking?

_____ 2. Do you think a lot about problems that arise because of that person’s drinking?

_____ 3. Do you ask for promises to stop drinking?

_____ 4. Do you make threats?

_____ 5. Do you have increasing bad feelings toward the person?

_____ 6. Do you want to throw away his or her liquor? Or hide it?

_____ 7. Do you think that everything would be okay if the drinking situation changed?

_____ 10. Do you find your moods changing as a direct result of his or her drinking?

_____ 11. Do you try to deny or conceal the drinking situation from friends?

_____ 12. Do you cover for and protect the person?

_____ 13. Do you feel responsible and guilty for the drinking behavior?

_____ 14. Are you beginning to withdraw from friends and outside activities?

_____ 15. Have you taken over responsibilities that used to be handled by the other person?

_____ 16. Are there arguments because too much money is spent on drinking?

_____ 17. Do you find yourself trying to justify the way you feel and act in reaction to the drinking behavior?

_____ 18. Do you have any new physical symptoms like headaches, indigestion, nausea, shakiness?

_____ 19. Do you feel defeated and quite hopeless?

_____ 20. Is your work suffering because of the drinking problem?

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